Every Reason to Stay

A heartbreaking yet hopeful novel about one girl's journey through grief and the family, first love, and shocking truths she finds on the other side--perfect for fans of Jandy Nelson and Every Last Word.

All her life, it's just been sixteen-year-old Skylar and her rockstar dad against the world. But this year, a horrible accident cuts the summer short and upends her life.

As Skylar grieves her dad, she discovers a huge secret: her mother is still alive. Now, Skylar is uprooted from her home and thrust into a family of strangers on the other side of the country. Furious with the mother who deserted her, she seeks comfort in her baking and decides to enter a local competition with a dazzling prize of a trip to a Parisian pastry school. As she gains her footing in the contest and her new town, she befriends a girl who seems just as lost as her, and she also finds more than friendship in the frustratingly irresistible boy next door. But as Skylar bakes her way to a brighter future, she'll uncover truths about the past in the last place she expected.

Filled with heaps of emotion, a spoonful of hope, and an unexpected twist of fate, this is a powerful story about the true meaning of home.

Author: Lane Clarke
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 07/07/2026
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.90w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9780759556751
Audience: Young Adult


Review Citation(s):
School Library Journal 04/01/2026 pg. 78
Kirkus Reviews 05/01/2026
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 07/01/2026
Booklist 07/01/2026

About the Author
Lane Clarke is a lawyer, an associate literary agent with Ultra Literary, and the author of Love Times Infinity. She lives in Virginia with her husband, daughter, and fur babies.